Ronaldo's Fly By Eatery

Check-out time was 11 a.m., and I just
came out to the Greenville-Pitt airport
early. At noon, I walked into their
nice little "Ronaldo's Fly By Eatery"
restaurant and ordered today's special,
chicken fillets, fries, and a sprite.
Great food, intriguing decor-a mural
that covers one wall, making it look
like the room is part of a quaint
downtown neighborhood where Burt
Lancaster is starring in the movie
at the local theater, "Airport."
The mural is quite well detailed
and continued up above, covering
the entire ceiling with a night
sky filled with stars, and a
surface above the entrance is
painted to look as if it is
a balcony. Out the windows
that fill another wall there
is a good view of the small
airport runway, etc..., outside,
wet today with rain. Nice to
find this smart little
airport restaurant here.
O.K., my plane leaves in
about one and a half hours.
Don't think I'll blog again
before take-off. -RBS

Wonderful memories of discussions of language

Here is a link to a number of photographs
that I took at TALGS 2009 on Saturday, February 21st.
http://drop.io/dxdkseh/blog
The TALGS folks at East Carolina University
were also taking photos and I expect that
between theirs and mine a person would have
a pretty complete set. I was using a Kodak 8.2.
A number of these photos will appear in
the coverage of the event in the spring
edition of the ESL MiniConference Online.
If I have seen a conference that embodies
the spirit and purpose of the ESL MiniConference
newsletter ( http://www.eslminiconf.net ),
this is it. Kudos to Dr. Lida Cope and her
diligent graduate students at ECU. OK, that's
the last entry for now. Next up for me are
the flights (3 different planes) back home.
Keep the faith,
Robb Scott
Editor, ESL MiniConference Online
http://www.eslminiconf.net/ed.html
Robb@eslminiconf.net

The group of linguists who made it all happen

Here you can see Dr. Lida Cope,
mentor and adviser to the group
of graduate students (also
pictured) who organized TALGS 2009.
With the group is Dr. Jodi Crandall,
this year's plenary speaker.

The post-conference dinner at a local Japanese restaurant

There was excellent hospitality and
comraderie at our table during a
delicious meal of Japanese food.
Everyone was celebrating a job
well done. Here are some photos
from the restaurant, both during
the meal and as we started to say
our good-byes.

Post-conference at Bates Hall

The TALGS 2009 conference was a wonderful
success. At the end of the day, the crew
of ECU graduate students who organized
the event gathered for a photo with
Dr. Jodi Crandall, the invited keynote
speaker. There were 90+ attendees at
today's conference, and these members
of the East Carolina University community
did a superb job of giving participants
an unforgettable experience.

entry 1 / noon break

It's lunchtime at the TALGS event, and this has
been a morning chocked full of engaging, interesting
content. I just got out of the plenary address by
Dr. Jodi Crandall, who presented models and
examples of ways that ESL teachers can
collaborate effectively with content teachers
in school settings from K-12 to higher ed
and adult ed. She let us know that all of
the growth in the U.S. workforce is going
to be from ELLs, and there is a key role
for ESL teachers to play in shepherding
these learners to instill knowledge and
awareness of post-secondary opportunities.
I'm going to have fun later today, and in the
days and weeks to come, preparing articles
to convey the key points from her plenary
and from all the sessions I am attending
here.

One thing to note is that the concurrent
sessions are just 30 minutes. This is a
great format. The speakers really have
to be on their toes, and they are talking
fast, and moving efficiently through their
powerpoints. You really get a clear sense
of what they feel is most crucial, and there
is no time to lose enthusiasm or interest.
I love this pace.

Friday PM: Arrival to Greenville

It's a little after midnight and I am in
the hotel room contemplating a good night's
rest. I started my journey at 5:00 p.m. from
Manhattan, KANSAS, on a Great Lakes company
shuttle flight to Kansas City. In KC, it
was just up a short escalator to US Airways
and they were already boarding the flight
to Charlotte, NORTH CAROLINA. The plane
was full (Maybe the stimulus is already
working!?). We made good time in the air,
and I found the area near my gate well
ahead of the Greenville flight, so I
enjoyed BBQ Brisket with mashed potatoes
and mixed vegetables (including yellow
squash, broccoli, green beans, carrots,
and corn), plus a roll and a Corona.
They asked to see my license for the
beer--always a humorous moment. On
the plane from Charlotte to Greenville,
they asked for a volunteer to move from
up front to the far rear of the plane
because they were "nose heavy." I
got up and moved, carrying my 225 pounds
with me, so that was a change of 450
pounds and apparently enough for them
to get the plane off the ground. :)
The exercise program starts when I
get home. For real this time. I
can't believe I weigh enough to
be useful as ballast now.

I found one of the TALGS 2009 organizers,
Lamont Curran, East Carolina University
graduate student in rhetoric and linguistics,
and a friend of his waiting for me to
give me a ride to my hotel. They also
gave me a tour of the drive to campus
and through the downtown area where
lots of students go.

Lamont tells me there will be at least
130 people tomorrow at TALGS, a new
record in the sixth year of this
event. I am excited about tomorrow's
conference and will report and take
pictures to the best of my ability.

Great to be in North Carolina. This
is a very hospitable place.

Later,
Robb Scott
Editor, ESL MiniConference Online